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Commentary On Orwell'S 1984
A brave new world revisited adon huxley essay
Commentary On Orwell'S 1984
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In George Orwell’s novel 1984 human sexuality is portrayed as a means to an end, not a matter of the heart or mind. Quite conversely, Aldous Huxley’s story of Brave New World views sex to be just another object for everyone to share with each other. Although used in opposite ways, sex keeps the citizens of both novels docile and compliant with the reigning government. Both 1984 and Brave New World use sexual activity in different ways, but beneath the differences are similarities that achieve matching goals in the end, control. This control influences both main characters in virtually the same way as each pine for revolution but only possess the conviction for rebellious acts. Alders Huxley’s Brave New World views sex as just another object …show more content…
The current government, known as The Party, controls the people through their sexual frustration and subsequent distracted minds. Consequently, people are too focused on relieving their frustration they do not care what The Party changes in their world or how it affects them. The Party even directs citizens' pent up aggression toward their enemies allowing even farther control over the population. The majority of The Party’s control is centered on the manipulation of human sexuality and proves to be thoroughly …show more content…
Winston begins to rebel by lusting after a woman named Julia ”” with full knowledge that this act is forbidden. Winston gives in to his temptations and proceeds to violate the law with Julia. After the fact, Winston voices his plan for revolution only for it to fall on deaf ears. Julia only cares about rebelling through sex to gain personal satisfaction and is otherwise content with the life allowed by The Party. Winston realizes at this point people like Julia who is “” are satisfied by the mere sexual act and do not wish for a complete change in government. The Party has effectively ensured the perpetuation of their own future by controlling the emotions of its people through manipulating human
Winston’s and Julia’s meeting in the woods signifies breaking the totalitarian ways of the party. Here Winston feels free from observation, and gets a glimpse of the freedom that the party opposes. It is a place for lovemaking, a utter horrendous crime in their state. Here there are only Winston’s and Julia’s eyes,
As analyzed by social critic Neil Postman, Huxley's vision of the future, portrayed in the novel Brave New World, holds far more relevance to present day society than that of Orwell's classic 1984. Huxley's vision was simple: it was a vision of a trivial society, drowned in a sea of pleasure and ignorant of knowledge and pain, slightly resembling the world of today. In society today, knowledge is no longer appreciated as it has been in past cultures, in turn causing a deficiency in intelligence and will to learn. Also, as envisioned by Huxley, mind altering substances are becoming of greater availability and distribution as technology advances. These drugs allow society to escape from the problems of life instead of dealing with reality. With divorce rates higher than ever in the past few decades, it has become evident that lust has ruined the society's sexual covenants. People are indulging in their sexual motives; lust runs rampant, thus strong, long-lasting relationships are becoming a rarity.
Winston expresses his feelings towards Julia in such an extraordinary way, “He would flog her to death with a rubber truncheon. He would tie her naked to a stake and shoot her full of arrows.”(Orwell 15). When he is expressing these thoughts, he is actually talking about someone he was actrate to, Winston just had no way of expressing it besides anger. He sees this beautiful young girl, who has made this vow its remain pure and chaste and he just wants to kill her because of how frustrated about it. Although late in the book, who these same two people are alone in a place without worry, everything is different, for example “You are prepared, the two of you to separate and never see one another again. ‘No!’ broke in Julia….’No,’ he said finally.” (Orwell 173) This second moment gives us a definite second opinion about how he may actually feel towards Julia. When they are both in a safe place, and can freely state and do they things they wish to do, Winston does show that he cares for Julia, enough that he does not want to leave her. I believe that these two different feelings show us that even with the body trying to control how people feel, what they do, along with what they think they never get to have complete control of
She presents herself as a passionate Party follower, but underneath the surface she embodies the spirit of a bird; her desires are to be free and enjoy life. Winston is the complete opposite; he is consciously determined to differentiate fact and fiction. This is shown when Winston learns about Julia’s sexual history. His heart leapt out of his heart. Scores of times she had done; he wished it had been hundreds-thousands.
Throughout our history, the government has used spying to control humans, therefore dehumanizing them in order to get and keep power. In 1984 by George Orwell, The Party controls the past, the present, and the future through the records in the Ministry of Love. The Ministry of Love burns all accounts of the past, therefore the citizens of Oceania don’t know anything different about the present than what the Party tells them. The Party keeps the people in Oceania clueless about everything in their society. If the Party says something is the way it is, then that is what it is. The Party is ultimate truth. The government just wants their citizens to love Big Brother, so they can have power over them. The Party does this by making sex only about
Winston breaks both of these rules with Julia because he loves destroying the “pureness”and “virtue” of the Party. He strives for corruption, and says he will do “anything to rot, weaken, [and] undermine” the Party (Orwell 111). He enjoys “the animal instinct, the simple undifferentiated desire,” and thinks the force of desire he feels will “tear the Party to pieces” (Orwell 111). Due to his beliefs, he repeats his actions over and over, as a small way to defy the Party’s rules. In addition, Winston shows rebelliousness when he thinks he joined the Brotherhood: a secret organization determined to overthrow the Party.
Winston felt like sex was a rebellion. He is drawn to his lover Julia because
By removing the stimulus of sex, the Party members are then given more opportunities to devote their loyalties to Big Brother. This influence is made evident in Winston’s reactions to Julia. Her “white and smooth” body “aroused no desire in him” (32). The Party has trained its members to become unresponsive to romantic feeling. The stigma of sex has been altered to such a degree by the Party that Winston views sex as an almost political act since it has become so closely related to Big Brother. In order to ensure true devotion to the Party, romantic connections are forbidden because becoming involved in such a relationship would mean devotion to another person other than Big Brother, and is therefore considered a threat to the Party’s power. Despite Winston’s relationship with Julia, he ultimately abandons his ties to her over his ‘love’ of Big Brother - thus his connection with Big Brother replaces his romantic
However, he secretly harbours resentment toward these policies due to his desire to retain his individuality and character. This is evident when he goes against the law by purchasing a diary and writing the statement, “Down with Big Brother”, the person leading his government. In many parts of the book, he uses his diary to express his views on the flaws of his government. This reinforces his desire to be independent and attempt to maintain his character. Thus, it allows him to stray away from his responsibility of being a lawful citizen. Another instance of him attempting to retain his character and individuality is when he engages in sex with Julia on numerous occasions in the grove and in the room rented from Mr. Charrington. In the general, sex is a powerful symbol which represents the essence and vigour of humanity. It is tied with individuality since it allows a human being to experience pleasure and the emotions an individual experience make them unique. Thus this allows Winston and Julia to be different from their comrades. Therefore, this allows average individuals to attempt to maintain their independence and their
A single moment, a single movement, a single protest against the system is the first step to finding change. For every parent that says “leave my child intact”, it would be one day closer to a time when it will be socially appalling to cosmetically alter an infant child who is incapable of consent or comprehension. The fluidity, complexity, and ambiguity of human sexuality extends far beyond sexual preference and onward into gender and sex. Accepting that some things will never fit within a textbook definition, and celebrating difference rather than condemning it, would fulfil the dream of many minds such as Fausto-Sterling and Butler as well as the author. Only time and individuals that dare to reject the flawed system can ease the binds of ignorance that tie society so tightly to an outdated Victorian mindset of sex and gender.
One major issue that helps maintain social stability in Brave New World is sex. It is thought of as normal for people to be completely open with their sexual nature. It is typical for children to run around naked during recess playing games that are sexual and sometimes homosexual in nature. Every adult is encouraged to sleep with as many different partners as possible. This outlook on sexual nature is quite different from actual accepted views. Today, sex is most widely accepted as a private, romantic event that should take place between monogamous couples. Because sex is a natural need of the human body, people of Huxley’s society feel pleased by being open with their sexuality. Indulging in their sexual pleasures eases their minds and keeps them from questioning the level of freedom they have.
Additionally, Winston’s primal feelings of lust and compassion are completely abolished, evidenced by his final encounter with Julia. Clearly, Winston no longer feels any love towards Julia, for when they meet again “He did not attempt to kiss her, nor did they speak.” (305) Furthermore, any thought of sex causes Winston’s “flesh [to freeze] with horror” (304). His inability to love or feel sexual desire renders him less likely to revolt against the Party, which makes him an ideal Party member. Finally, his unquestionable love for Big Brother is ultimately what makes him “perfect” from the party’s perspective.
The novel 1984 by George Orwell presents the readers an image of a totalitarian society that explores a world of control, power, and corruption. The main idea of government control presents itself in the novel by protecting and listening to the people of Oceania. However, Orwell suggests giving too much power to the government is a mistake because eventually the decisions they make will not be about the people anymore but rather themselves. In 1984, the power and corruption the party has is overwhelming for the people. There are no ways around the beliefs of the Party, the party attempts to control and eventually destroy any mental or physical resistance against their beliefs. The agenda for the party is to obtain mind control over its people and force them to adore their leader. The methods the Party uses to achieve its goal are: the use of constant propaganda and surveillance, the rewriting of history, and Room 101.
Some of the most controversial issues in society have historically revolved around matters relating to gender and sexuality. As gender plays an integral part in how we function in society, we quickly learn what is expected of us through our gender roles at a young age and our sexual scripts as we get older. We are expected to conform to our respective gender roles of femininity or masculinity depending on the sex we were assigned at birth. We learn that certain characteristics and expressions are attributed to each gender but are never taught that gender is fluid but instead it is binary. We also become subjected to assumptions of our sexual desires and attraction based on our sex and our gender and are expected not to deviate from it. We become
Gender and sexuality can be comprehended through social science. Social science is “the study of human society and of individual relationships in and to society” (free dictionary, 2009). The study of social science deals with different aspects of society such as politics, economics, and the social aspects of society. Gender identity is closely interlinked with social science as it is based on an identity of an individual in the society. Sexuality is “the condition of being characterized and distinguished by sex” (free dictionary, 2009). There are different gender identities such as male, female, gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual that exists all around the world. There is inequality in gender identities and dominance of a male regardless of which sexuality they fall under. The males are superior over the females and gays superior over the lesbians, however it different depending on the place and circumstances. This paper will look at the gender roles and stereotypes, social policy, and homosexuality from a modern and a traditional society perspective. The three different areas will be compared by the two different societies to understand how much changes has occurred and whether or not anything has really changed. In general a traditional society is more conservative where as a modern society is fundamentally liberal. This is to say that a traditional society lists certain roles depending on the gender and there are stereotypes that are connected with the genders. One must obey the one that is dominant and make decisions. On the other hand, a modern society is lenient, It accepts the individual’s identity and sexuality. There is no inequality and everyone in the society is to be seen as individuals not a part of a family unit...